Create A Successful Blogger Outreach Program

Many brands are looking for bloggers to tell their story. Why? Because blogs are one of the top online outlets that shape the opinion of consumer spending.

A recent study by Technorati shows that consumers are more influenced by smaller communities that allow them to communicate with others who share the same interests. When it comes to spending, blogs are even considered to be more important to consumers than Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social networks.

So what does it take to build an effective blogger outreach strategy? Here are five tips to get you started.

Define your goals and objectives. What does a win look like for your campaign? Is it more social engagement, website traffic or simply building awareness of your brand? Establishing these goals will help determine the best approach for what bloggers to contact.

Evaluate social influence. Websites such as Technorati, Alltop, Blog Catalog and Alexa make it easy for users to find listings of the top bloggers with high social influence. You can also join HARO, a publicity service that lists thousands of reporters and bloggers who are looking for ways to promote brand stories.

Know your audience. Just because a blogger has high social influence doesn’t mean they align with the interests of your target audience. It’s important to evaluate what type of audience is engaging with the blogger. You can do this by researching people who share their posts on social media outlets. You can also do a basic Google search to see who is talking about them online.

Begin your outreach. A great way to reach out to bloggers is to take advantage of “blogger dating” tools such as BlogDash, eCairn and GroupHigh that allow you to research and group together a list of potential bloggers. Once you’ve created a list of potential bloggers to represent your brand, contact them with information about your campaign and address any potential questions they might have. Some may require that you send them a sample of your product or some type of payment.

Invest in the right bloggers. Some bloggers lose the interest of their own audience because they write about too many products and brands, which results in losing the value of their own content. Remember, great bloggers are great storytellers. They need to have a deep interest and understanding about what makes your story compelling before they write about your brand.

What other tips do you have about blogger outreach? Tell us in the comments below, or tweet your responses using the hashtag #mcgblog.